Integrators blend work and personal tasks throughout their day. Their family and personal responsibilities interrupt work time, and their work responsibilities interrupt family time. For example, an Integrator may regularly schedule and attend family events (for example, a child’s sporting event) during traditional work hours but may also take care of business e-mails, phone calls, and tasks while spending time with his or her family.

Separators keep work and personal activities separate. They focus on work tasks while at work and focus on family activities while at home. They use physical space, schedules, and discipline to establish clear boundaries and protect both work and family time.

Work Firsters let work activities interrupt family time but do not permit family activities to interrupt work. They focus primarily on job-related activities while at work and also take care of business e-mails, phone calls, and tasks during family time. Their schedules suggest that work time takes precedence over family time.

Family Firsters permit family activities to interrupt work but typically do not allow work activities to interrupt family time. Although they may complete personal tasks during work time, they tend to focus exclusively on nonwork activities during personal time. Their schedules suggest that family time takes precedence over work time—the opposite of Work Firsters.

Cyclers alternate between periods of integrating and separating work and family, choosing either separation or integration as needed to fulfill their obligations. For example, tax accountants in the United States may separate work and family during the tax season (January through April) so they have long periods of time during the day to focus on their heavy workloads. After April, however, they may integrate work and family, intentionally taking more time during work to attend to family or personal needs.

Work-Focused individuals are career oriented and primarily invest themselves in their work. They prefer to give their best energy to their job-related activities.

Family-Focused individuals primarily identify with a family role. They prefer to invest most of their energy in being a parent, grandparent, spouse, or caregiver.

Dual-Focused individuals invest time and energy equally in both work and family. They prefer to structure their time so that they can give their best to both domains.

Other-Focused individuals prefer to invest their time and energy in life interests that do not directly relate to work or family. For example, they may prefer to invest in community volunteering or in their hobbies.

High Boundary Control. People with a high degree of boundary control feel that they have a lot to say about how they divide their time and attention between work and family. They decide when to focus on work, when to focus on family, and when to integrate the two. They feel empowered to make decisions and to manage resulting trade-offs.

Midlevel Boundary Control. People with a moderate degree of control feel that they have some say in how they divide their time and attention between work and family. They sometimes decide when to focus on work, when to focus on family, and when to integrate the two.

Low Boundary Control. People with a low degree of control feel that they do not have much discretion over how they divide their time and attention between work and family. They may feel very constrained by their work schedule, family demands, or both.